Beware the Slenderman (2016) – Podcast Review (Episode 90)

This episode we review the made for HBO movie Beware the Slenderman a documentary about the Slender Man stabbing where two twelve-year-old girls stabbed their best friend in the nearby woods, later alleging that Slenderman ordered them to carry out the attempted murder.

We are also joined by a special guest co-host, Adam Rosner, creator of the Slenderman YouTube series TribeTwelve (2010). Adam joins us in our discussion of this polarizing film.

Adam Rosner describes the Slenderverse reaction from TribeTwelve (2010), EverymanHYBRID (2010), Marble Hornets (2009), and the rest of the Slenderman community. Co-host Michael Steinberg, attorney at law, gets his legal game on and discusses, the criminal case brought against the two defendants and copyright law with respect to using Slenderverse footage on the HBO movie! Co-host Dustin Austin’s YouTube series Haunted World of CW (2012) also makes an unexpected appearance in the HBO movie. We discuss all of these riveting issues and lots more!

Slenderverse Reacts – Beware The Slenderman Stream and Q&A

After you listen to our latest podcast, be sure to check out the Slenderverse community reaction to HBO’s Slenderman documentary.

The Story

In May 2014, two 12-year-old girls (Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier) in Waukesha, Wisconsin lured their friend Payton Leutner into the woods where they stabbed her 19 times. Fortunately, Payton survived when a passerby found her and called 911. The two girls were later apprehended and charged with first degree attempted homicide.

Morgan and Anissa were avid readers of creepy pastas—particularly Slenderman stories. Slenderman is a fictional character created by Eric Knudsen (a.k.a. Victor Surge) in 2009 on the Something Awful forum.

The defendants claimed that Slenderman was real and they needed to murder someone to prove their loyalty (as proxies) to the faceless black-suited figure. One of the two girls was diagnosed with schizophrenia, raising issues as to whether she was competent to stand trial. Years later, HBO made a movie about the events surrounding the horrific incident.